The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 138, 5 August 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1876.

For. many months past wo have repeatedly brought under the notice of our readers —with the delusive hope also that the attention of the Provincial authorities might he enlisted as well—the aosolute and urgent necessity there is for providing some hospital accommodation in this district to meet constantly recurring cases. Up to the present time, we might as well have whistled jigs to milestons, and expected t ose landmarks to dance, as far as eliciting any response to these appeals, either from the public or the (government, hut recent facts, as stated in Mr Lott’s letter published in our last issue, have, wo are happy to say, excited an interest in the community, -which may cause some action to be taken shortly to supply the acknowledged want. How the public have been so long apathetic is a mystery. During the transition state of Provincialism, inaction on the part of the Provincial Government may bo understood, if not altogether excused, but as that seems likely to be indefinitely prolonged, at least as far as the supply of other 1 ov .ll sof local self-government goes, surely it behoves the public boro to act for themselves in the interim, and put their own shoulders to the wheel, instead of waiting tor, or appealing to, some mysterious power, whoso aid will not certainly bo granted for some time to come. In the meantime, whilst the grass is growing the steed is starvin.tr, whilst action ou the part of the public is postponed, sick persons, to whom the sheltering care of a hospital, on ever so small a scale, would bo an inestimable boon, arc lodged bore there and everywhere, and the expenses of their maintenance very largely imrinsed. As stated in the letter to which wo have referred, there arc now five persons under medical treatment, who should he lodged in a hospital, hut who are distributed in the most extraordinary manner, three of them being located in public house. o , and two in a but which was recently vacated by the Armed Constabulary as unfit for occupation. Could a much greater scandal exist than that; No matter how kindly disposed the proprietors of public houses may be, it is utterly impossible for them to be able to pay that necessary attention to invalids that their condition demands, whilst the stir and noise, inseparable from country hotels, are in tbo highest degree antagonistic to the recovery of those afflicted by illness of any description. The chances of those stowed in an untenantable hut arc still wors 1 , whilst their expense is greater, for at the present time a warder is engaged at 10s per diem to attend to them, in addition to medical and other expenses, and yet they cannot be tr'atcd with the care they ought to receive. There would not bo the slightest difficulty, wo fool stir’, if a few earnest men would take the matter up. in founding an institution of the kind. Every one knows it is required, and few would grudge a subscription towards Its establishment, if called on. It is very evident that people must help themselves at the start, and when the existing political turmoil is at an end, and some definite authority established, then the hospital can bo handed over. As has been shown dozens of.timos over, there arc buildings hers lying idle and useless, that are admirably adapted for 'hospital purposes, and if an application r b'e made to the General Government, through the Superintendent, suitable accommodation would at once bo unhesitatingly granted. That difficulty over, It Is rn-y probable that out of Government stores, bedding, and like

necessaries might be obtained, though, were tliis not the case, sufficient for requirements could readily be procured. All that is needed is to form a committee, a working committee, composed of gentlemen who will go heart and soul in the work, to make necessary applications to the Government, to thoroughly canvass the district for subscriptions, and, in fact, initiate the whole matter. In some parts of the colony, the goldfields especially, the Victorian system has boon adopted, whereby subscribers of £1 per annum are entitled as a right in case of illness, to hospital admission. The proportion of the subscribers who ;iva'il themselves of these privileges is small, not more on an average than ten per cent, and the contributions of the othef ninety per cent go a long way towards meeting the cost of their sick follow men. This could be well introduced here, and a large fund could be easily raised thereby. Few working men, others whoso circumstances arc not very good, bachelors in townships or country Would not grudge payment of £1 a year to secure medical care and treatment in case of sickness, whilst a groat many well-to-do settlers, who, through Various circumstances, cannot obtain at their own houses the attention iu illness that they need, would gladly pay handsomely for admission to such an institution. Such has been the c*>so times out of number elsewhere, and it is only fair to assume that history in this district would repeat itself. A hospital of the kind would of course be a district hospital, and would receive patients from a wide circle round, therefore it would only bo fair for those parts to contribute in proportion. We could enlarge on this subject to very great length, having had long and intimate knowledge of the working of small country hospitals in the colonics, but it is hardly necessary

to do so at present, Public attention has been aroused, and at the promised public meeting preliminary stops’to the establishment of one here will no doubt be taken. Any further information or assistance we can rentier we will most readily a fiord,- ami do hope that some substantial and satisfactory course will shortly be resolved on, and that Patea may bo relieved of the odium so far attaching; through neglect of its suffering sick.